Key Takeaways
- On May 7th, Billie Eilish will release Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, a film directed by James Cameron documenting her latest global tour. To celebrate the release, we dropped a new basketball jersey collection with Billionaire Boys Club, a set of GAS Trading Cards, and a bunch of other goodies—all available to shop on Complex.
- Billie has had a remarkable rise, going from teenage prodigy to one of the most defining pop stars of her generation, spanning three chart-topping albums: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Happier Than Ever, and Hit Me Hard and Soft.
- To mark the occasion, we ranked her 20 greatest songs, all produced by her brother Finneas—including classics like "lovely," "BIRDS OF A FEATHER," and "bad guy."
In January 2020, just a month after she turned 18, Billie Eilish made history: she won Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year at the Grammys, off of the success of her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
The moment explains how fast things have moved for the singer, who made her debut in 2015 as a 13-year-old in her bedroom uploading songs on SoundCloud.
Since then she's grown into one of the most dominant pop figures of our time. Part of it is her gifts—a talented songwriter with a subversive streak for the dark side, but with enough pop sensibilities and a talent for hook writing that makes her a unique presence in the space.
Then there is also her relationship with her older brother Finneas, who has helped creatively guide her, producing and helping write essentially every song Billie has put out along the way. What makes their relationship work is his malleability, Since 2019, Billie has released three albums: the aforementioned When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Happier Than Ever, and Hit Me Hard and Soft, each debuting near the top of the charts and each presenting new wrinkles to Billie's artistry, whether it's a provocative streak, one rooted in classic influences, or the new emotive space she occupies now.
On May 7, Billie will release Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour, her new tour movie co-directed by James Cameron. To celebrate the release, we dropped a new basketball jersey collection with Billionaire Boys Club, a set of GAS Trading Cards, and a vinyl soundtrack pressed from live tour recordings—all available to shop on Complex.
With all the Billie activity lately, here are the 20 best Billie Eilish songs of all time.
“My Future” (2020)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Happier Than Ever
"My Future" was released about a year before Happier Than Ever, and the song signaled the jazzier, more understated direction Billie was heading for her sophomore album.
Written and recorded during lockdown, it starts off downbeat and intimate, then slowly builds toward something fuller and more propulsive, with snappy hip-hop drums and plucked guitar flourishes coming in halfway through. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Oxytocin” (2021)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Happier Than Ever
On Happier Than Ever, "Oxytocin" is an outlier. It's a song with a jittery, techno-based energy—which contrasts with some of the more traditional music on the record—but it also features perhaps the horniest performance of Billie's career, with lines that straddle the line between obscene and dangerous, like: "If you find it hard to swallow, I can loosen up your collar / 'Cause as long as you're still breathing / Don't you even think of leaving."
“Bellyache” (2017)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Don't Smile at Me
"Bellyache" showcases how fully formed the singer was, even at the beginning of her career. On the track her voice is subdued, with hints of Lana Del Rey, paired with production powered by a gentle acoustic strum before erupting into flickers of electronic distortion and techno pulses. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“ilomilo” (2020)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
How many songs can claim to be inspired by controversial rapper XXXTENTACION and movie composer Aaron Zigman? This is the magic of the eerie and understated "ilomilo," which features delicate "Moonlight"-inspired sounds in the background, and captures the foreboding, almost suffocating feeling of being young and separated from your lover. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Lost Cause” (2021)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Happier Than Ever
You can't talk about "Lost Cause" without touching on the video: a sultry hangout session featuring Billie and her friends playing PS5, eating cake, and twerking. It's a blast, and a sly response to the song's subject matter—a defiant middle finger to a low-effort, apathetic lover. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“everything i wanted” (2019)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: N/A
"Everything I Wanted" features some of the most stunning songwriting of Billie’s career: "I had a dream I got everything I wanted / Not what you'd think / And if I'm bein' honest / It might've been a nightmare," she sings in the opening moments.
The song grew out of a depressive episode in which she dreamed of killing herself, sparking a fight with her brother and collaborator Finneas. After the argument—and some time—the two returned to the track and reworked it to center their relationship. In the process, they transformed a private moment of crisis into something transcendent. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Your Power” (2021)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Happier Than Ever
Billie's specialty is the personal—writing songs in the first person that transcend the individual and feel universal. "Your Power" is more of a message song, one about how men in power abuse young women. It's driven by gorgeous acoustic guitar and her haunting vocals. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Idontwannabeyouanymore” (2017)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Don’t Smile at Me
"Idontwannabeyouanymore" features a slightly more upbeat groove and melody, which gets juxtaposed with the heavy themes in Billie's music—everything from self-doubt to body image. After appearing on her debut EP in 2017, the song took on an extended life cycle when a Genius interview of her discussing it got clipped and memed to death.
"When the Party's Over" (2018)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Maybe the most understated song in her catalogue, "When the Party's Over" is almost all vocal performance, with a sparse piano driving the song. The effect allows you to focus on the lyrics, which are heartrending, and a performance that is all build-up and no release.
“WILDFLOWER” (2024)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Hit Me Hard and Soft
Throughout her career, Billie has not shied away from being subversive or creating impossible scenarios. "Wildfather" is a doozy though—Eilish is comforting a girl after a difficult breakup, while plotting to be with the person she’s heartbroken over. The twisted nature of the song is aided by the music, which is cinematic and gloomy.
"CHIHIRO" (2024)
“CHIHIRO” moves like a chase you can’t quite outrun. The tension tightens and loosens as it pulls you deeper in. Billie Eilish slips between hushed, near-robotic verses and a chorus that opens into something brighter and almost weightless.
Named after Spirited Away’s heroine, Chihiro Ogino, the track taps into the film’s liminal unease—glitchy synths, pulsing guitar, and vocal echoes that blur human and machine, building toward something overwhelming. —Leila Sheridan
Billie Eilish & Vince Staples, “&Burn” (2017)
"I'll sit and watch your car burn / With the fire that you started in me." It's wild that a 15-year-old was writing and singing lyrics like this. But then, the lyrics also describe the teenage years so well: those carefree times filled with anxiety and dread. It features one of the few rap guest appearances in her catalogue, Vince Staples, who cooks here, coming through with a verse that's snarling and a little snide. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Ocean Eyes” (2015)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Album: Don't Smile at Me
Really, the Billie story starts here. And what a debut. Written and released on SoundCloud when she was only 13, "Ocean Eyes" eventually went viral, presenting the singer as someone wise and vocally talented beyond her years. Even at this early stage, the song showcased her ability to craft irresistible earworm hooks. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“bury A friend” (2019)
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
Still doesn't get much spookier than this. Billie has described the horror-themed "bury a friend," which is pulsating but features various haunting noises and tics, as the table-setter for her album. The song and video remain one of her most haunting moments. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“LUNCH” (2024)
Album: Hit Me Hard and Soft
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
“LUNCH” opens with a contagious, hand-clapping beat and a blunt “I could eat that girl for lunch,” launching immediately into bold, unfiltered desire.
From Hit Me Hard and Soft, the song pairs a crisp, front-loaded drum pattern with a raw, almost spoken singing that gradually swells into guitar-laced momentum, turning longing into something playful and unmistakably self-assured. —Leila Sheridan
Billie Eilish & Khalid, “lovely” (2017)
Album: 13 Reasons Why Soundtrack
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
With "lovely," what you get is two rising forces in pop. Khalid, known for a more sentimental strain of pop, enters Billie's world and together they craft a modern classic that is as intense and dramatic as the show it is featured on. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
“Happier Than Ever” (2021)
Album: Happier Than Ever
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
"Happier Than Ever" was the first song Billie and Finneas wrote for her sophomore album. It also happens to be the best song on the album.
The track starts sparse, a guitar-driven ballad that melts down in the second half: distortion and bass kick in, arena-style drums crash through, and guitars clash against each other. Billie's vocals get louder but more indistinguishable, to the point where you can hear her yelling in the back as the song rides out. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
"What Was I Made For?" (2023)
Album: Barbie the Album
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
"What Was I Made For?" came at a moment of crisis for Billie. She and Finneas were in a creative rut while trying to make their third studio album. Then they got tasked with making a song for the Barbie soundtrack. The result, the most emotional and touching ballad of her career. A song that works, partially, because she’s writing from the perspective of someone else. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
"Bad Guy" (2019)
Album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
"I have taken out my Invisalign, and this is the album."
Is there a better opening line this century? From there you get "Bad Guy," the singer's first no. 1 smash, presenting a figure that is goth but also sarcastic and irreverent, despite the angst in her lyrics, confident in her abilities. "Bad Guy" dethroned another bedroom, SoundCloud-influenced bop — Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road." But while casual listeners won't see the similarities, both share a similar, acerbic sense of humor. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo
"BIRDS OF A FEATHER" (2024)
Album: Hit Me Hard and Soft
Producer: Finneas O'Connell
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” feels almost nostalgic, mixing bright, upbeat melodies with a bubbly, childlike energy. Glittering guitar strums and a steady lift give the song an airy ease, carried by Billie Eilish’s breathy, clipped delivery.
Her lyrics, however, undercut that sweetness, landing with real emotional weight. Eilish's devotion to the track’s subject stretches “’till I’m in the grave,” even as she admits it “might not be forever.” In the same breath, Eilish holds permanence and fragility, letting the tension sit beneath instrumentals that feel far more friendly than the sentiment they carry. —Leila Sheridan
